


Mutiny at Vigil's Keep

by Raven201



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-09
Updated: 2017-08-09
Packaged: 2018-12-13 06:38:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11754171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raven201/pseuds/Raven201
Summary: After the death of the Mother the Grey Wardens of Weisshaupt sent an envoy of Wardens to Vigil's Keep to speak with the Hero of Ferelden about her decision to spare the Architect.





	Mutiny at Vigil's Keep

**Author's Note:**

> Think I had this on ffn originally but I've lost that login info since then. Figured there was nothing wrong with putting it here too. Inspired after rewatching some Game of Thrones. I thought this one scene could fit really well into Dragon Age.

Lara Cousland sat quietly at her desk with numerous papers and letters before her. She had not intended to stay at Vigil's Keep after her deal with the Architect and death of the Mother but a letter from Weisshaupt had delayed her departure. 

Lara grimaced and shoved some of the documents away from herself. She had planned on leaving for Denerim to surprise Leliana after the latter's meeting with the Grand Cleric. However the letter from Weisshaupt had said that an envoy of high ranking Wardens from as far as the Anderfalls was already on its way to Vigil's Keep. It seemed that the letter itself had been delayed as it was only a week after it arrived that the Warden envoy showed up at the Vigil.

While the reconstruction of Vigil's Keep was already well under way, with workers moving around from dawn till dusk, Lara felt as if the Vigil was empty. Almost every recruit that she had trained were off on assignments investigating potential darkspawn sightings. Oghren had been sent to Orzammar on orders of the First Warden. Evidently the Wardens wanted to ask the Kind if the Wardens might create a permanent base of operations in the city to have easy access to the Deep Roads. Velanna and Nathaniel had also been sent west to the Frostback mountains to investigate rumors of darkspawn. A letter from Nathaniel said that the rumors had been just that and that they were on their way back. Lara had hoped that they would have already arrived so she could have company and other perspectives during the meetings with the Warden envoy. Anders had not been sent off on any assignments but instead had left on one of his many personal journeys. Sigrun was still at the Keep but while outwardly she was still a perky individual Lara could see that Sigrun's disapproval of the deal with the Architect was impacting her commitment to the Wardens or at least to Lara. It seemed that the mabari Lara had had since her life at Castle Cousland was her last remaining friend at the Keep.

Sighing, Lara closed her eyes. Ever since the Warden envoy had arrived she had been embroiled in talks from sunrise to sunset about her actions with the Mother and the Architect. Despite reports from Orzammar and the Legion of the Dead that the deep roads were the quietest they had been in living memory the other Wardens were livid that the Architect had been allowed to live. They were certain that a new blight would happen, perhaps even in their lifetimes because of the Architect's experiments. 

Nothing Lara said dulled the views of the other Wardens. Their endless conversations and debates would circle and accomplish nothing. The constant bickering seemed like stalling to Lara. But she had no idea what the envoy might be stalling for.

She looked around her quarters and considered going to sleep when her door was quickly opened and revealed a breathless Sigrun. "Warden Commander," she said while catching her breath. "A messenger from the Architect has arrived."

Lara stood, her weariness vanishing. "You're sure it's from the Architect?"

"Absolutely," Sigrun responded. "He talked about the day you made the deal with the Architect. Gave details that no one else could know about unless they were there." She cocked her head and smiled. "He was also a talking darkspawn so there's that too," Sigrun added.

"Where is he?" Lara asked as she moved out from behind her desk and into the hallway with Sigrun in tow.

"By the front gates. He's with the other Wardens now. They didn't think it was a good idea to bring him into the Keep just yet."

"Damn it," Lara cursed. "Of course he comes across the other Wardens first. Well at least they haven't killed him yet."

Picking up the pace Lara broke into a run towards the gates with Sigrun close on her heels. As she approached the front gates she saw what must have been all of the Wardens from the envoy in a semi circle. She assumed they were penning the darkspawn messenger in against the wall. Moving forward, Lara pushed through the wall of Wardens. Her mind was racing about what the message from the Architect might be about.

As she made it through the semi circle Lara suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. Where she had expected to find a hurlock there was just a grey warden shield with the word traitor written across it.

Lara slowly turned around to face the others. She was confused yet was quickly realizing she was in mortal danger. As she faced the wall of Wardens that now trapped her against the wall she let out a grunt of pain. 

One of the Wardens had driven his knife into her abdomen. "For the Wardens," he said as he removed his blade.

Lara staggered as she tried to make sense of what had happened. Her hands moved to her bleeding gut but she was quickly met with another blade.

"For the Wardens," the second attacker said.

The pain from the knives were clouding her thoughts, keeping her from thinking clearly. Any thought of escape or of fighting back were being drowned by her shock and pain.

"For the Wardens," a third said as they drove their blade into Lara.

The phrase was repeated several more times before there was a pause. Gasping for breath Lara fell to her knees. One hand tried to steady herself and keep her from falling face first into the ground while the other hand clutched at her bloody chest. Her eyes were moving over the wall of Wardens as she tried to understand what had just happened.

Why? Because of the Architect? Are they so fearful of another blight that they see me and my actions as the beginning of another?

Lara tried to focus on the Wardens as she let out more grunts of pain and gasped for breath. Some of the Wardens then began to part ranks letting someone walk through. Sigrun slowly walked forward with a knife in her hand. Lara's eyes widened in shock and betrayal as she realized that Sigrun had led her into this trap. Now standing in front of Lara, Sigrun paused. Lara could see the pained expression on Sigrun's face and even thought there were tears in her eyes.

"Si- Sigurn... I..." Lara managed to gasp out as she tried to breath.

Tears were now silently falling down Sigrun's face. "I'm sorry," she said before she drove her blade into Lara. "For the Wardens."

Lara's mind had stopped trying to think about what was happening. She was dying, she knew it, the blood pooling on the ground beneath her was evidence of that. A wave of loneliness overtook her as she knelt there in a pool of her own blood. How long had it been since she had last seen Fergus? He had taken his rightful seat as the Teyrn of Highever. And Leliana. She had not seen Leliana in so long. They had planned on travelling the world together. After the murder of her family, after the blight and after the fighting in Amaranthine Lara had just wanted to live as long and happily as she could with Leliana. 

I'm so sorry, Leliana. I won't be able to hear about your meeting with the Grand Cleric or listen to your songs and stories anymore.

Feeling completely empty and alone Lara Cousland fell back. Her body hit the ground and landed in the pool of her own blood. 

Turning away the other Wardens began to walk away leaving the Hero of Ferelden's body where it had fallen.

 

In the fields outside of Vigil's Keep the returning Nathaniel Howe and Velanna could hear the howls of a mabari. 

Velanna sighed in annoyance. She had never been fond of the Commander's mabari. He was far too energetic and always got into all sorts of trouble. She did not want to be met at the gates by the hound slobbering all over her. Letting out another sigh she resigned herself to the inevitable and continued for the Keep but realized that Nathaniel had stopped and appeared to have frozen. Looking at him she saw that his face had gone pale with dread.

"What's wrong?" Velanna asked, suddenly very concerned at her companion's sudden change.

"That's the Commander's mabari." His voice was quiet and also conveyed fear. 

"Yes I know. And?" Velanna was confused. The hound was howling at something. Why did that cause Nathaniel to look so worried?

"You have obviously not have spent much time with mabari before." Nathaniel began to move again and started running towards Vigil's Keep. "I may have spent time in the Marches but I still understand the howls of a mabari."

Running to catch up Velanna asked, "And what is the mutt feeling then? What is wrong?"

"It's the Commander. I don't know what it is but something is very wrong at the Keep."


End file.
